Diachronic Interpretation of Nostratic Etymon *wol[a] Based on Proto-Indo-European *(e)wel- (Gr hw- / ew-) and Proto-Altaic *ulu (~ -o) Forms (According to S. A. Starostin’s Version)

Abstract

The article represents the diachronic interpretation of the Nostratic *wol[a] verified by S. A. Starostin on the Proto-Indo-European *(e) wel- (Gr hw- / ew-) and Proto-Altaic *ulu (~ -o). These data were taken for analysis from the International Etymological Database Project “The Tower of Babel”. The notion of etymon in general and the Nostratic one in particular have been specified. The Nostratic etymon is understood as a phonomorphological and semantic complex that is interpreted based on the reconstructed etymons at the level of every language family.The following data has been demonstrated: using the comparative-historical method, the etymologist-macrocomparatist performed the external reconstruction of the Proto-Indo-European *(e) wel- (Gr hw- / ew-) “great number; to heap” made on Proto-Tocharian *w'ältse; Ancient Greek *ẹ̄́lomai̯ (ẹ̄lómeno, ẹ̄lésthō), *wáli-; Proto-Slavic *velьmi, -ma; *velьjь, *velīkъ; *vālъ, *vālovъ, *vālī́tī; Proto-Baltic *wal-ī̂-, performed with the help of internal reconstruction, as well as the Proto-Altaic *ulu (~ -o) “big, many; good” made on Proto-Turkic *ulug; Proto-Mongol *olon; Proto-Tungus-Manchu *ule-; Proto-Korean *ōr-. The procedural operations of S. A. Starostin performed with the use of the method of diachronic interpretation have been commented. It helped to assume that the Proto-Language forms of etymons at the level of the language family reach the Nostratic *wol[a]. This made it possible to establish and substantiate the degrees of language relationship between the reconstructed etymons of the two language families and the Nostratic etymon: within the Indo-European language family the following degrees have been registered: trivial – between the Proto-Indo-European and Proto-Slavic; notable – between the Proto-Indo-European and Proto-Tocharian, Ancient Greek, Proto-Slavic and Proto-Baltic; within the the Altaic language family: trivial – between the Proto-Altaic and Proto-Turkic; notable – between the Proto-Altaic and Proto-Tungus-Manchu; distant – between the Proto-Altaic and Proto-Mongol, Proto-Korean.